Esther has been working in the European film industry in the fields of funding, training, professional development and networking. Before joining the International Screen Institute in February 2024, she was head of the Creative Europe-MEDIA Desk in the Austrian Film Institute. Esther has developed and managed ProPro – The Producers Programme for Women – An initiative of the Austrian Film Institute to Empower Women Film Producers, together with Ursula Wolschlager. She has been a guest lecturer on the European film industry at the film-, tv,- and media-production colleges Krems, St. Pölten and Vienna, and a jury-member at various film-festivals throughout Europe.

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Committed to the professionalisation of the film industry and the facilitation of networking and collaboration opportunities, Esther took part in numerous workshops, congresses and labs on topics such as screenwriting and project development, financing, pitching, production, co-production, film sales and marketing, New Business Models, Audience Development, Sustainability, Gender Awareness, Unconscious Bias, anti-racism and many others. Esther was workshop manager at EAVE, a networking and project development-training programme for European producers, and she has been involved in the local management of industry events such as the Producers Network and Producers Workshop at the Marché du Film of the International Film Festival Cannes. She has freelanced in film-production in various positions ranging from set-publicity to production management. She has worked in the marketing and PR-office of Twentieth Century Fox Austria (Dohr Werbe Gmbh), coordinating marketing- and PR-strategies for the theatrical releases of TCF films in Austria. Besides her mother-tongue German, Esther speaks English, French and Greek. She has completed a training in project management and holds an MA in Intercultural Competencies from Danube University Krems.

Eva has been working as a curator, cultural manager and lecturer in the field of experimental media and immersive art since 2005. In 2007 she initiated sound:frame, which gained notoriety as Vienna's festival for audiovisual art and has been active as a platform for immersive art and culture&technology. From 2016 to 2019 she directed the production of the Diagonale in Graz and realized an XR program at the festival. In recent years, she directed the media art festival CIVA – Contemporary Immersive Virtual Art in Vienna and hosted the framework program of the BMKÖS funding track Pixel, Bytes + Film.

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She has curated and implemented numerous international exhibition and live programs and has worked as a project manager at the Vienna-based agency Museum Booster. Since 2011 she has been working as a lecturer in the field of experimental media at various universities and colleges.

Dominika is passionate about connecting people through valuable content, encouraging sustainable collaborations that drive a meaningful change. Her journey led her to curate and produce programmes and educational initiatives for various galleries and festivals in the Czech Republic, including the Mezipatra Queer Film Festival, Moravian Gallery, Suteren Gallery and other.

Mike has been working in the creative sector since 2015 when he graduated as an Actor from the University of Wales, he then went on to study his masters degree in Creative and Cultural Industries Management from Northumbria University where he has gone on to work as a director and production manager, directing and producing the UK's first all autistic cast musical production of Bugsy Malone. Mike has gone on to setup an autism drama course in the north-east of the UK, as well as teaching and performing around the world in Canada, Thailand and Spain to name a few places.

After moving to Austria in 2022 he has been involved with Theatre Initiative Burgenland, Vienna's English Theatre, Musik Theater Tage Wien and Brut Nordwest. In various roles such as production manager, director and videographer.

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Mike has a keen passion for drama, theatre and film and has even set up his own production company that has been involved with filming and live video production in theatres across Austria such as OHO, KUGA and Kultur Kongress Zentrum Eisenstadt.

On the side Mike teaches acting at Vienna's English Theatre and performs regularly with groups in Burgenland and Vienna.

Maria-Christine has been managing all legal and business aspects of audio-visual content (film, TV, format), ranging from development (including rights acquisition) to financial structuring, (co-)production, to distribution of over 400 hours of media content. She has been the interface to talent, producers, broadcasters, major studios, streamers etc. In her previous role as the Head of Legal and Business Affairs Content Sales International at ORF Enterprise she was responsible for ORF and third-party content distribution contracts, applying her acquired knowledge from working at copyright law firms in Munich and Vienna and her postgraduate studies.

Kai May’s expertise stems from 15 years of experience in the film industry as a managing director/CEO of film production companies. His area of practice, therefore, covers not only the legal but also the business aspects of film and tv productions and other media and entertainment products like video/computer games. He advices national and international clients on the full life cycle of audio-visual content (film, TV, OTT) from rights acquisition, through the stages of development, financing, structuring and (co-) production, until exploitation and distribution, including the evaluation of film libraries and the improvement of revenue streams.

He is also a lecturer at Film University Babelsberg.

With nearly a decade of experience working in Sales and Distribution, Síle now runs an Audience Design consultancy helping independent producers and established production companies identify potential audiences for their films and the positioning of their projects in the ever-competitive marketplace. Since she began, her contribution as Audience Designer has led to international premieres at top festivals, world sales and theatrically-released titles, and successful applications with Creative Europe, the BAI and Screen Ireland.

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Síle is a member of the European Film Academy and the founder of The Breakfast Club, a peer-to-peer network for women working in the Business of Film in Ireland. She is an alumni of Berlinale Talents, Torino Film Lab, LIM Less Is More and the NFTS.

Actively involved in delivering training … For 7 years Julia ran the Marketing & Distribution Course for the Media Business School in Ronda, Spain and was Director of Content for the Creative Europe/ScreenSkills funded senior executive training programme Inside Pictures, as well as delivering training programmes for Screen Skills Ireland, Film Distributor’s Association, Focus in Scotland, and Creative England.

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Julia has been a driving force in creating ISI when the UK announced it would be leaving the EU and wanted to continue working with those in the international industry.

From a background in advertising and consumer PR, she joined PolyGram, the first European studio, where she was responsible for running the UK theatrical marketing and publicity departments. During her time, she had the honour of releasing such films as WHEN WE WERE KINGS, TRAINSPOTTING, FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, FARGO, TWELVE MONKEYS and THE USUAL SUSPECTS, followed by stints as Deputy Managing Director of Redbus (now Lionsgate), and Head of Marketing at Film Four Distribution.

In 2003 she set her own UK distribution company, VERVE PICTURES with Colin Burch during which time she acquired and released Andrea Arnold’s RED ROAD, the Oscar nominated DOGTOOTH and Craig Gillespies LARS AND THE REAL GIRL. This was followed by two years as Head of International Acquisitions for a UK sales company.

Since 2013 she has worked freelance and been involved in various aspects of the film industry where she was a consultant to producers and, on Danny Boyle’s T2: Trainspotting, worked on the film from pre-production right through to its international release and worked with Pulse Films, Dogwoof, MBC Studio’s and the BFI.

Part of CineCollective and D/Arts. Currently working on the pre-selection committees of Berlinale Panorama and Diagonale, programming for frameout - digital summer screenings, and member of the non-fiction commission of Zürcher Filmstiftung. Lecturer at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Moderator and host of various panels, events, and interviews. Previously programmed with DOK Leipzig, Kasseler Dokfest, sixpackfilm, and tricky women - tricky realities. Former artistic director of this human world - International Human Rights Film Festival. Djamila cares about entanglements and the exploration of collective spaces.

Julia thrives on pushing boundaries and embracing challenges across diverse scientific fields. Júlia is a firm believer in the power of blending disciplines—science, art, communication, and technology—to unravel the intricacies of our world and pave the way for a brighter future. Throughout her career, she has engaged in numerous projects that allowed her to combine her expertise in biology with her creative skills, creating a unique and impactful synergy between the two disciplines.

Zsófia’s love of film and unwavering dedication has been aiding her in her entire career. Zsófia is a firm believer in always finding a solution, and this comes handy every day in this field. Previously, she worked both in the independent sphere and the more commercial side of the film industry. Most recently, she served as the International Manager at BAFTA albert, and as a development executive at BAFTA Rocliffe.

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Zsófia graduated from the prestigious NFTS MA course in 2019 and during her studies she gained experience at eOne, Picturehouse Entertainment, Curzon Artificial Eye, New Sparta, and Sundance London to name a few companies. Zsofi’s passion is storytelling, in every shape and form. To combine sustainability with film, is her absolute dream come true. Film for her holds magical powers, and that always comes with immense responsibility.